OLD ORCHARD BEACH — Ask Thornton Academy senior Hattie Simon how long she’s been singing.

“Since forever,” she said, in a recent interview at the high school. “Since I was born.”

Simon, 17, has also played piano since she was 9. She recently became a second-time Honorable Mention Winner for the National YoungArts Foundation in Jazz Voice. There were 11,000 applicants nationwide, and Simon was the only recipient of Maine out of 687 award winners.

“I was pretty excited,” said Simon, noting also that she was up against students from performing arts schools.

Simon plays piano in Thornton’s jazz band and also performs at area venues with her jazz band, the Hattie Simon Trio.

“Music is such an important part of my life,” she said, and performing is an opportunity to sing and play and meet people who also enjoy music.

Her interest in jazz stems from attending the Maine Jazz Camp in Farmington while in middle school.

Among her favorite jazz musicians are contemporary artists Gretchen Parlato and Kurt Elling, as well as Anita O’Day and Ella Fitzgerald.

She recorded her debut EP, “La Vie En Jazz,” in 2011.

And even though Simon is already an accomplished singer and musician, she says there’s always more to learn, and she wants to develop her own style.

Simon says she practices whenever she can find time, balancing performing, school, a part-time job, and involvement in her school’s Environmental Club and Model UN.

“There’s never a time at home when I’m bored,” she said.

The busy schedule keeps her motivated, she said.

“I don’t know how much busier I can get than now,” she said, and her full schedule will help prepare her for college.

Simon hasn’t determined where she will attend college next fall, but she would like to find a college with good musical mentors near a city, so there are opportunities to perform. She wants to pursue a dual degree in jazz vocals and international relations.

She said she has an interest in global studies and foreign languages, and has studied French, German and Arabic.

Simon attended Seeds of Peace, a camp that brings together students from different countries and teaches leadership and conflict resolution skills.

She also spent one summer on a full scholarship studying Qalam wa Lawh Arabic Language Center in Rabat, Morocco.

Simon is also an anti-tobacco advocate, and, along with three other local students, was instrumental in getting a resolution in Old Orchard Beach passed to ban smoking on the beach.

For more information about Simon and her music, visit her website at hattiesimon.com.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or [email protected].